Former national skipper Khaled Mahmud doesn’t think that veteran Mahmudullah will be able to get a place in the national squad for the upcoming edition of the ICC World Cup in India later this year.
 The 37-year-old is in the twilight of his international career and the all-rounder has already retired from Tests and hasn’t been picked for a T20I since September 2022.
In the recent past, Mahmudullah was only a constant figure in the Bangladesh ODI team but he was recently dropped from the home ODI series against Ireland while wasn’t even picked for the upcoming ICC World Cup Super League matches in England.
“Certainly Riyad (Mahmudullah) is a very important cricketer for us and he has won many games for Bangladesh. If I have to say the truth as he is not in the national team, I’m not seeing him in the next World Cup,” Mahmud told reporters in Mirpur on Thursday.
“Hridoy (Tawhid) is doing well while Afif is not in the team right now. We will have to see how Riyad performs in the super league (DPL). Riyad played in a crucial place for Bangladesh and there you can be a hero or zero and Riyad has tasted both. He won a lot of games single-handedly but the main thing is the current situation.
“If the team is satisfied with Riyad’s replacement, he has very little chance. If that is not the case, Riyad can always make a comeback considering he has the experience. This is something that we all believe,” he said.
“You can’t say Riyad is totally out but I think it won’t be wise to bring him just before the World Cup. You have to bring him before that and give him matches in those series,” he concluded.